The current campaign to promote the law on torture

The current torture law campaign reminds me of domestic feminists who have been tinkering with their stupid domestic violence law for years. Any news where someone was beaten, killed, and so on is provided with the comment "but if a law on domestic violence were adopted ..." Well, of course! If the law were passed, the district police officers, whose competence already includes "prevention of domestic violence," would stop sitting up to their ears buried in pieces of paper and would begin to work normally. The practice of initiating criminal cases, judicial practice would immediately change, because only the correct law is not enough, as in Europe. To be like in Europe.

So with torture: there are articles with various harm to health, there is an article for torture, there is an article for abuse of power. In general, there is something to complain about. But what happens when complaints and statements appear? Employees give carbon copy testimonies that all this is a lie, slander, and the detainee himself bit them on the shoulder strap. Other employees write them out ideal characteristics for the court. Prisoners (if we are talking about a colony) sing in chorus that they themselves stumbled, fell and did not see anything. Video recordings magically disappear, cameras break. The court (if it comes to it at all) sees no reason not to trust the testimony of employees and sometimes issues the unthinkable - acquittals. And even where they come to condemn due to irrefutable evidence, a public scandal, etc. - the result is often suspended sentences. What will change here if another article appears? Yes, absolutely nothing: everything will be the same, only plus one more article.

What can really change the situation (both in terms of domestic violence, and in terms of torture and everything else) is a fundamental restructuring of the system. So that, instead of a touching unity, a real separation of powers. Instead of mutual responsibility, competing structures. A truly independent court, instead of a bureaucratic paper-punching machine. Real judges, instead of former secretaries from the same department. Without all this, no lawmaking makes any sense, but only produces superfluous entities and creates the appearance of a useful struggle. That is why the "law on torture" can be adopted - because it does not in any way encroach on the established political system.

Mihail Pojarsky 2022-01-29